England's Alastair Cook after scoring 10,000 test runs during day four at the Emirates Riverside

Published:15:46Monday 30 May 2016

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Alastair Cook has become the first Englishman, and youngest batsman worldwide, to reach 10,000 Test runs – and he did it at Chester-le-Street.

Cook achieved the feat on the fourth afternoon of the second Investec Test at the Emirates Riverside when he tucked Nuwan Pradeep for a boundary to midwicket from the sixth ball he faced as England closed on a series-sealing victory.

The opener began needing just another five runs for his five-figure milestone, as his team set out to make just 79 to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

A sparse crowd was there to witness his achievement, marked by Cook with a shake of partner Alex Hales’ hand and then a raised bat, after Sri Lanka had seemed sure at the start of play on a cold and cloudy day to lose without England needing to bat again.

At 31 years and 157 days, England captain Cook has displaced India great Sachin Tendulkar as the youngest player to reach five-figures in Tests.

He is 12th in the all-time list of leading Test runscorers, and still almost another 6,000 adrift of Tendulkar at the top.